The invention relates to illuminating an instrument panel and the specific gauge elements within the panel via a light guide source of light.
Vehicle display panels often have various instrumentation which inform the user of various properties of the vehicle including gauges such as speedometers, tachometers, gas meters etc. These gauges are often constructed of opaque plastic with translucent parts used to indicate the necessary information. The gauge is illuminated from below in order to make the information on the gauge clearly visible and have a pleasing aesthetic appearance. In order to illuminate the gauges, light guides in combination with LEDs are employed. The LED emits light which is scattered within the light guide; light then leaks from the light guide as the light travels through it, illuminating the area from where the light is leaked.
Several problems exist within the typical light guide and LED construction summarily described above. As light circulates through the light guide and is leaked the areas further from the light guide light entrance leaking less light, causing uneven illumination of the gauge. This uneven illumination provides an undesired look which the current invention remedies.
The method of illumination by light guide as described above generally only illuminates a single area in function resulting in multiple light guides needed for multiple areas or to cover a full 360 degree area of a gauge. The need for multiple light guide assemblies in order to illuminate gauges results in additional material costs and more space consuming parts in the valuable real-estate of the instrument panel.